Urban Renewable Energy Zones

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Investing in Communities

Procuring energy from local organisations means investing in local businesses, people and community goals

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Maximising value of investment

Strategic community electrification can defer grid upgrades, enhance investment, and improve performance and resilience of the distribution channel

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Mitigating risks 

Procuring energy locally reduces curtailment, congestion, marginal loss factors and market change risks. UREZ collaborates with partners to deliver flexible load management and tariffs.

How will the initiative address this need?

An Urban Renewable Energy Zone (UREZ) is an urban area that can support high-levels of local small and medium-scale renewable energy sharing in a way that helps with the wider energy system by balancing demand, improving power quality and reliability, increasing DER hosting and driving socioeconomic benefits for the whole community.

A research project through the RACE for 2030 CRC has been built to define a UREZ, to establish community appetite and need for UREZ and to identify pathways to implementation. The research phase of this project is now complete.

PHASE 1 (Completed):

  • Define UREZ
  • Explore the value proposition of UREZ
  • Identify early interventions for action

Read the report

 

PHASE 2 (Underway):

  • Form key partnerships
  • Collaborate with community groups working on energy transformation
  • Establish a commercial consortia who are ready to invest in the assets needed
  • Work with energy actors, regulators, state and local government, and other peak bodies
  • Work with large energy users who are electrifying assets to demonstrate benefit

PHASE 3 (Future):

  • Demonstrate UREZ in at least two markets over the next two years
  • Implement at least 50 UREZs across Australia by 2031

How you can get involved

We are working with community groups, local businesses, investors and councils across Australia to establish pilot UREZs that will demonstrate the value proposition of the model for replication and scale. Feel free to reach out if you would like more information on how we could work together.

Get in touch

Who we're working with

Phase 1 of the project delivered on behalf of the RACE for 2030 CRC assembled a broad consortium of partners across industry, government and academia to deliver the research that forms the basis of our next phase of operation.

Our team

Genevieve Mortimer
Principal - Innovation Projects Climate-KIC Australia

Genevieve is responsible for managing projects which aim to drive systemic change. Her careers spans impact assessment, research, stakeholder engagement and sustainability in the mining, forestry and energy sectors. She takes a systems perspective, integrating technologies, decision-making processes and organisational change strategies to solve complex problems.

Nodoka Nakamichi
Project Officer Climate-KIC Australia

As a Project Officer, Nodoka is responsible for supporting stakeholder engagements and the delivery of strategic projects. With experience managing health portfolios and founding a start-up in the Middle East, Nodoka is passionate about facilitating effective intersectoral collaborations that shape a just transition. Nodoka also participates in the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific as a youth advisor and the UTS Sustainability Alliance of Students and Staff as a Co-founder and Vice President.

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